Beowulf 2007 Film Review

The movie Beowulf was directed by Robert Zemeckis and it was released in the year 2007. The movie is based off an epic poem called Beowulf. Which was passed on by people telling stories. It wasn’t till 1815 when it got published. The movie is sort of a weird watching at first because of the way it is shown. The people look fake and real at the same time, not till later on does your mind find it to be all fake.

Story begins in a feast hall celebrating. The noise of the singing draws the troll from his cave, where he attacks them and kills and injures many. Nobody in the kingdom is strong enough to defeat the troll. Beowulf and his crew come from the sea. They heard that the king was offering a ransom to destroy the monster (troll named Grendal). Beowulf does succeed in destroying the troll, but the next day the Trolls mother kills all the men still remaining in the hall. Beowulf and a few of his men were not there at the time and survived. Beowulf heads out with his friend to avenge the deaths of his men. Instead of fighting the trolls mother he is seduced by her, leaving a gold dragon cup as a token to keep her from attacking any more. He goes back and lies to the people saying that everything is fine and she is dead when they are not. The king questions Beowulf in private and deduces what really happened in the cave with the Trolls mother, leaving you the impression that the same thing happened to him. The king later announces Beowulf will rule when he dies. Not long after, he falls off the cliff into the ocean.  Beowulf becomes king. Over many years armies come the great Beowulf to defeat the hero, but none do. Eventually the token that was left by Beowulf in the cave is found by someone, saying he found it in the moors. Dragon attacks started happening now that the agreement was broken with the token missing. Beowulf ends up fighting the dragon and defeating it, but dies in the process. He is given a Viking burial with his treasures on a small boat with him burning. The boat is burned along with him. Right before it sinks, the trolls mother reappears taking Beowulf in her arms. The token washes up on shore shortly thereafter.

Through the movie there are references to the how brave Beowulf is not only by him but others emphasis it throughout the movie. It is always okay to over sell your accomplishments to show how brave you are as long the person was able to back it up. The Anglo-Saxon warrior’s culture is all about the glory, and courage no matter if it causes death. In the movie Beowulf made a statement about how “for glory, not for gold.” Which is a great representation of how the warriors cared more about for a lack of a better word Heroes. In the movie religion was mentioned there was some mention of moving towards Christianity which didn’t happen until later on. At the time the movie takes place the people were superstitious and it seemed they were slowly transitioning toward Christianity.

Work Cited:

“Anglo-Saxon Culture.” Brief Timeline of American Literature and Events:1830-1839,      public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/medieval/anglo-saxon.html.

Full Cast & Crew.” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0442933/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_wr#writers/.

Rees, Margaret. “Beowulf: Tenuous Relationship between Movie and Poem.” Torture and Death in America's Prisons, World Socialist Web Site Wsws.org Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), 1 Mar. 2008, www.wsws.org/en/articles/2008/03/beow-m01.html.

“The Anglo-Saxon Hero.” "Death Penalty – Justified", csis.pace.edu/grendel/Proj2004A1/hero.html.

 “What Did the Anglo-Saxons Believe?” BBC News, BBC, 1 Aug. 2018,www.bbc.com/bitesize/articles/zs3gcdm.

Dagobert the First's Favorite Abbey

   

During the 7th century, King Dagobert founded this abbey, which also happened to be built over the tomb of French kings for 800 years. A fun fact about King Dagobert is that this particular abbey was his favorite and allowed the people to have an annual fair, to please God(Bennett 29). The town built themselves up around the abbey over time. Around the year of 1136, Abbot Suger built a basilica for the abbey, which ended up changing the entire western architecture. Suger basically started the Gothic architecture in the west. The best structure to demonstrate this style can be seen in the ambulatory. This is where the beautiful stain glass windows can be seen, as seen below. 

Not only was this structure important to the transition from Romanesque to Gothic structure, but it was also important because it was the first building to have stained glass "rose" windows. They are made up of multiple circular windows that come together to form the shape of a rose. The design of the Basilica is based on Biblical themes and on the Biblical phrase, "let there be light." In other words it was very spacious and these windows were massive, so a lot of light was let in. To go along with the Gothic style of the building, the Basilica forms a cross. A lot of hard work went into this structure, from the building itself to the smallest of detail. This abbey and Basilica are both beautiful works of art.

Works Cited:

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Saint-Denis.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 23 June 2017.

 https://hum120.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/architecture-the-basilica-of-st-denis/

“Architecture: The Basilica of St Denis.” HUM 120 Course Blog, 24 Mar. 2011.

https://www.britannica.com/place/Saint-Denis-France#ref38148

Bennet, Judith M. Medieval Europe: A Short History. 11th ed., McGraw-Hill, 9 Sept. 2018

   

42 Line Bible

The 42 Line Bible, also known as the Gutenberg Bible, was the first book to be printed in the West using movable type. The movable type press which the 42 Line Bible was produced on was invented by Johannes Gutenberg, who the bible is named after. Prior to this all books in the West were manuscripts(hand written) or produced by pressing woodcuts of pages. This meant that the 42 Line Bible heralded a revolution in the manufacturing of books that rendered the practice of manuscript printing obsolete. Although the 42 Line Bible was produced in Latin, the movable type printing press allowed for the proliferation of vernacular language books in Europe.

  

Of the 42 Line Bibles originally produced by Gutenberg, only 48 are known to survive today. Of these 36 are printed on paper and another 12 are printed on vellum (calf skin). Among these surviving bibles the U.S. Library of Congress has a complete vellum 42 Line Bible, the British Library has a complete vellum copy and the British Library has a complete paper copy. The 42 Line Bible is closely connected to the 36 Line Bible which was sometimes contended to have been produced first. However, recent examinations of the two have concluded that it is the 42 Line Bible which was produced first.

Sources

British Library. Gutenberg Bible. 2017, https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/gutenberg-bible

Encyclopedia Britannica. Gutenberg Bible. 2017, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gutenberg-Bible

Arth 364. Notes. 2016.

The Ghent Altarpiece: see it for yourself!

The Ghent Altarpiece (named because of its location in a cathedral in Ghent) is a magnificent work by Jan van Eyck, who did it in 1432. It's one of the most famous works of art in Europe. It's an actual altarpiece, meaning that it can be stood out open, or it can be folded up and closed:

People viewing the open altarpiece. Notice the hinges. And how huge it is.

It depicts several religious symbols on the inside, notably Jesus in the center wearing red. It's in fact a telling of the story of Jesus, the figures nearby are prophets, angels, and Mary.

The altarpiece has been in many hands over the years. The Nazis were one of many groups to steal it, and they hid it away in a salt mine. (Link) Imagine the kind of damage that environment did to the oil painting! Fortunately, it's been found and restored almost to the level of the original.

And for interest's sake: you too can see it for yourself! An internet project by the Getty Foundation has made a recreation of it in high detail, complete with descriptions of each image and the ability to zoom in anywhere you'd like: Link

Works Cited

Khan Academy (2013). Ghent Altarpiece. Retrieved from: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/northern-renaissance1/burgundy-netherlands/v/ghent-altarpiece-closed (transcript)

Getty Foundation (2010). Closer to Van Eyck: Rediscovering the Ghent Altarpiece. Retrieved from: http://legacy.closertovaneyck.be/#home/sub=open

An Unexpected Treasure at the Cluny Abbey

    In our studies of medieval history over the past few months we have discussed the importance and beauty of the Cluny Abbey and the relevance it held throughout the middle ages. Cluny was a Romanesque styled monastery home to Benedictine monks for many years. Throughout history the original buildings have come and gone and modifications have been made, but it remains an area of importance and a wealth of historical knowledge to this day.                                                                                                                 Recently an important discovery has been made at Cluny including the largest number of silver deniers ever found. In this discovery of treasure, a gold signet ring, 2,200 silver deniers and oboles, 21 Islamic gold dinars and other various gold items were found. An interesting fact about this find is that not only is it the largest amount of silver deniers that has ever been found, but never before has such different items from various areas been found together in one place. It is thought that these areas include Spain, Morocco, and the signet ring has Roman markings. While the origin of this treasure and the reason for it being together in one place is not known to us, it is possible it was a donation from christian kings of Spain or some sort of payment.

    

Sources

https://phys.org/news/2017-11-medieval-treasure-unearthed-abbey-cluny.html

https://www.realmofhistory.com/2017/11/17/islamic-gold-dinars-abbey-of-cluny/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/archaeologists-find-buried-medieval-treasure-in-french-abbey/2017/11/15/444457d4-c9fc-11e7-b506-8a10ed11ecf5_story.html?utm_term=.bcea0ba6ed3b

   

What to Wear: Franciscan Monk Style

According to physicists at the Italian Institute for Nuclear physics, the tunic below is claimed to have belonged to St. Francis of Assisi. Radiocarbon evidence suggests that the date of this artifact matches up to St. Francis' lifetime and lived devotion to God as a Franciscan monk. 

Tunic preserved in the Church of Saint Francis in Cortona, Italy

St. Francis was a spiritual leader and founder of the Franciscan order in a time where living out a fulfilling spiritual journey was sought after. The Franciscans expressed their piety and devotion to God by living as mendicants, or beggars: living on the streets, begging for food, and dressing simply in their recognizable brown, gruff tunics. They believed living their lives out in poverty allowed them to ignore worldly objects and sacrifice their lives to God. This tunic represents one of the many new ways Medieval people found to express themselves religiously.

Now do I think this tunic belonged to THE St. Francis himself? No. Well, I don't know... Possibly? The chance is very, very, very slim. Extremely slim. But the authenticity of the artifact itself cannot be doubted thanks to science. Imagine St. Francis passionately preaching to the streets of Italy: his feet bare, raw, and caked in dirt, his tunic shredded, thin, and completely unsuited for the elements, but his face enlightened. He is completely fulfilled. 

Sources

Bryner, Jeanna. "Tunic Worn by Saint Francis Identified." Live Science, 10 September, 2007, https://www.livescience.com/1855-tunic-worn-saint-francis-identified.html. Assessed 19 November, 2017. 

Bennett, Judith. "New Paths to God." Medieval Europe: A Short History. New York: McGraw Hill, 2011. 190-199. Print.